Figments of Reality
by SingleServing
Summary: Little Todd Casil resides in the Mental Hospital whilst Johnny reawakens his past.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1  
  
The moment his eyelids fell, the visions began.  
  
Little Todd Casil was in a room. Surrounded by piercing white walls. He could barely discern between the floor and the ceiling it was so bright. Todd suddenly felt the old feeling of dread creep into his stomach.  
  
Todd took a step forward and immediately fell through the pallid floor. As he descended, the white dissolved into black. Suddenly, he stopped falling and realized that he was sitting on nothingness.  
  
"Mommy? Daddy? Where am I?" whispered Todd, a hint of panic in his voice. He began to feel his way around, only grasping cold air.  
  
Then he heard the noise. A quick, pounding sound of footsteps, drawing closely towards Todd. He held his breath as the footsteps stopped in front of him. Todd heard a sharp intake of breath directly above his huddled body and then felt something touch his leg. Cold, long fingers slid up his body then stopped at his face. The hands cupped Todd's round face in their grasp and touched his face almost affectionately.  
  
Todd's hot tears slid down from his red eyes and landed on the arthritic fingers. He could hear the far away sound of water dropping continuously on tile floor. The slender fingers then began to grasp harshly. The long fingernails dragged across Todd's pale skin leaving deep slits on his cheeks.  
  
Bringing in as much air as he possibly could, Todd screamed.  
  
"Quick! Give him a dose of Dilantin, stat!" cried a low voice.  
Hands, millions of arthritic, sticky hands were on him, pushing him down on the ground. Flashes of light flittered over Todd's eyes. Masks, eyes, gloves. A pain shot up through his left arm and then everything disappeared.  
  
The soft sound of a constant beeping awoke Todd from his restless daze. His eyes flickered over towards his left and saw a machine with swirling lines and flashing lights. Todd sat up and felt something pull against his arm. He looked down and saw an IV stuck in the inside of his left elbow. He quickly pulled the tape off then delicately reached for the needle and pulled it out slowly. It was amazing watching the long needle leave his soft skin; it was like magic.  
  
Todd tossed his short legs over the side of the hard bed. He sat there, his leg dangling a few feet above the cold tile. He listened to the noises and whispers around him. A moaning began from the room next to his.  
  
Breath escaped from within Todd's mouth.  
  
'Is this what it will be like for the rest of my life?' thought Todd, jumping down from the flat bed. His feet felt immediately like blocks of ice when they touched the freezing tile floor. He bent down on the ground and carefully pulled up the overhanging sheets, covering underneath the bed. It felt unbelievably humid below the bed. Todd squinted and finally saw his slippers.  
  
He reached his small arm as far as it would go and grabbed the slippers. Todd scrambled away from the bed as fast as he could, his breath hitching in his throat.  
  
The slippers he held in his hand were given to him a week ago. As he first entered the room that would be where he slept, ate, and thought, a set of clothing and slippers were waiting for him on the simple bed. He was told to put them on and to leave his regular clothes neatly folded on the bed to get picked up later. Todd asked if Shmee would be there soon and he was told that he would. Shmee never came.  
  
Todd let the slippers drop to the floor and slid his feet between the soft material. He reached the steel door and pushed forwards. The door pushed towards the outside and Todd took two steps out of his room. He looked left then right. A few people were walking through the hallway. A doctor briskly walked past Todd and turned down a corner at the end of the hallway.  
  
Todd instinctively tightened his hands around each other, wishing that he had his stuffed bear. He started to walk towards left when a shriek entered his ears from a room across from his. Todd watched as the doctor that had walked by him before came running back and swiftly entered the room. The door banged against outside wall. Todd could see a man on a bed within the room. His arms and legs were flailing, his hands crippled in a claw-like manner. White foam dribbled down from the man's mouth. The man's eyes were wide open, but somehow Todd didn't think that the man could actually see anything.  
  
The door swung inwards and Todd got a glance of the doctor trying to hold the man down on the bed, reaching under the bed to find brown leather straps. The doctor started to reach into his lab coat pocket when the door swung again. For a brief moment, the door pushed outwards again and Todd could see the doctor slamming a needle into the man's arm. The man turned towards the doorway, saw Todd with his blank eyes, and smiled.  
  
________________________________________________________________________  
  
A shadow curled tighter within itself upon the splintered floor. Every other moment a soft scream could be heard beneath the floorboards. Dark eyes clenched shut, making swirls of clear light underneath the eyelids.  
  
"Why are you here?" said a rusty voice.  
  
Two orbs of light appeared within the shadow. A figure stood up from the darkness and stalked towards the sound.  
  
"What do you mean? Why is anyone here? Who or what gave permission to create such creatures? So many questions have been asked and you assume that I know the answer?!"  
  
The man reached out with sickly yellow fingers and curled them around the small plastic figurine. He brought the toy close to his face and stared, waiting for an answer.  
  
"No, Johnny, that's not what I meant. I was wondering when you were going to leave. You said you were going to go weeks ago," said the Bub's Burger Boy figurine.  
  
"Oh," said the emaciated man. His grip upon the figurine lessened and put it down on a steel table. Crossing his arms over his chest, Johnny whispered, "I am. I just needed to take care of some things first."  
  
The hollow toy stared with unseeing eyes, "Go then, if your things are taken care of."  
  
A low growl escaped the man's throat as he stomped his foot down.  
  
"Do not tell me what to do! You are nothing but a stupid, evil, plastic...thing!" Johnny screamed, his pale face becoming flushed.  
  
"Come on, boy. You know you want to leave. All that needs to be done is to walk through that door. The door right there, to your left. Turn, walk through it, Johnny," said the wide-eyed toy.  
  
Eyes slit, Johnny spun around and stiffly walked away from the figurine. He walked to a corner of the room and crouched down on the floor.  
  
"You can't stay forever, Johnny. You know you have to do this."  
  
Johnny pulled his knees under his arms and stared at the intersection of the two walls. A small insect, it's antennae wavering, scuttled along the wall in front of Johnny's black eyes.  
  
"Hello, Mr. Samsa," whispered Johnny. The bug frantically darted across the broken wood. "Oh, don't worry, I'm not going to kill you today." Johnny reached out with his slim fingers and clasped his hands around the cockroach. Johnny sat there, with the creature between his palms, and thought. Why did he want to leave? What vacation did he need? Does he really want to go or is some other force telling him that he wants to? So confusing.  
  
The cockroach squeezed through Johnny's fingers and crawled across his hand. Johnny looked down at the bug. He gently grasped the bug between his fingers, stood up, and placed the cockroach in his inside coat pocket.  
  
"Let's go." 


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2  
  
Black. Pitch black. All that Todd could hear was the gasping of his own throat. A wet floor was below the little boy's clammy fingers and feet. Todd took in a shaky breath and held it. He could get through this. He was going to wake up and everything was going to be OK. Waking up to a mental institution. Oh yes, much safer than a deathly frightening dreamworld.  
  
A great thumping noise resounded within Todd's ears. He gulped and hugged himself tightly. The noise grew louder.  
  
Todd thought to himself of great, beautiful things. Walking through a plain door. The knob was calmly warm. Finding his way into the living room, a blazing fire roared. The noise again. Todd looked up to the wonderfully comfortable chairs and saw his parents. Happy. The noise again. They were laughing. The noise again. They were kissing. The noise again. Todd's parents looked down and saw him there. They stopped their laughing and talking and stared. The noise again. They stared, not of love. Not of hatred. But of a sickening unfamiliarity. They didn't know who he was. The noise again.  
  
Gasping for air, Todd sat up in bed. Darkness shrouded around the little boy. Quick breaths escaped weakened lungs. Todd brought his tiny hands up to his hot face; his cheeks were wet with his tears.  
  
A dull thudding noise echoed throughout the small room. Looking directly towards where the sound originated, Todd brought the covers up to his eyes. Light shown through, beneath the door. But the light was not the thing that scared the boy. It was the shadow that blocked the light. A shadow right outside Todd's door.  
  
The door shuddered as the shadow pressed against it. A loud cracking noise and then a quiet click as the lock on the door was lifted.  
  
Todd didn't know what to do. Something was able to get past the locked door without a key. Images of smiling insanity blurred through his mind.  
  
Creaking, the door slowly slipped open. Only a sliver of light was exposed from the hallway. And blocking some of that light was...  
  
"Shmee?"  
  
________________________________________________________________________  
  
"Eighty nine cents pl-," trailed off the store clerk. A grotesquely sickly man stood in front of the counter. The man was holding out a dollar bill in front of him, sipping a cherry drink. He also seemed to be spotted with blood.  
  
Raising his eyebrows, Johnny motioned for the dollar to be taken from his hand. Slowly, the store clerk grasped the bill and quickly gave back the change. Johnny nodded towards the man and walked out of the store; a jingling of a doorbell was all that lingered.  
  
"I wonder what was the matter with him," spoke Johnny aloud. Walking back to the little parked car, Johnny stepped over the still writhing man. Half of the man's torso was crunched underneath the tires of the car and blood was seeping over the asphalt.  
  
"I hate jay-walkers," muttered Johnny slamming the car door.  
  
"It sure seems like you do," said the plastic figurine sitting on the dashboard. It stared blindly at Johnny.  
  
"I don't remember taking you with me," said the pale man. He picked up Reverend Meat and threw it in the back. It made a soft clunking noise as it hit the seat.  
  
~  
  
Endless miles of road and dirt flowed around Johnny. No matter how long he drove, it still did not give him any answers. He could not even remember the question.  
  
"Why don't you turn on the radio?" asked Reverend Meat.  
  
Johnny looked in the rear-view mirror and saw that the figurine was conveniently placed up behind the back seats. It stared into the mirror back at the man.  
  
"And why should I do that? I thought we already went over the fact that I do not take orders from little figurines anymore," said Johnny. The Burger Boy just stared in the mirror. Johnny sighed and turned the dial on the radio. A mixture of static, music, and speech resonated through the tiny car. Finally, Johnny stopped the dial as a commercial started:  
  
"The best meat around can't compare / To what we have to share / In the kid's meal always comes a toy / At the juiciest place: Bub's Burger Boy! Yes, that's right folks; Bub's Burger Boy is here to serve you! Just take the exit off of Highway 53 and you'll find yourself at the best gosh darned restaurant in town. And don't forget, we always serve with a smile!"  
  
Johnny stared at the radio throughout the commercial. He looked back at the plastic figurine. It almost looked like it was smiling. 


	3. Chapter 3

The tiny stuffed bear slumped down onto the floor; it's head faced downwards. Todd quickly rose from his cot and shuffled his way to his small companion. Picking up the stuffed animal, Todd squeezed it with all his might.

"I missed you so much," whispered Todd. So much emotion filled his small stature that he promptly sat down where he was standing. After weeks without his friend, Todd thought that he would be alone forever. It felt like everything was going to be OK again.

'It took a long time to get here, Todd,' said Shmee. The little boy rocked back and forth with his small bear. The nightmares were getting worse and there wasn't Shmee there to take them away.

"I had that one dream again, Shmee. The one with the toilet. It keeps talking to me and I don't know what to do. It scares me so much," said Todd. His voice began to rise as he spoke of the dream and by the time he was finished, he was sobbing.

'Don't worry about it anymore. I am here now and I'll take good care of you. Now be quiet. Someone's coming…' Shmee whispered as the boy's heaving chest began to slow. Todd looked up and saw a shadow approaching the door. He quickly pushed back from the entrance and didn't stop until his back touched the side of his bed.

"At this fucking hour of the night! What the hell is wrong with these people," said a rusty voice. A rumbling chuckle wafted through the opening in the door and Todd squeezed his eyes shut. The little boy heard the door swing inward and felt a cool blast of air.

"What's this?" said the rusty voice. Slowly opening his eyes, Todd looked up and saw a huge man with white scrubs. The man looked down at the boy and harrumphed. "How did you unlock your door? You can't go out at night. No one's allowed," said the man matter-of-factly. He waited for the boy to answer and when a reply did not come, the man reached down and pulled Todd's arm. "If you won't respond then you'll just have to go to the tank for tonight. That's where everyone goes when they break the rules."

Todd squeaked when he heard that bit of news. He did not know what the Tank was, but it did not sound encouraging. Shmee was clutched tightly in Todd's left hand as he was being pulled by his right. The man kept a fast pace and as they both rounded a corner, Todd lost his balance and fell down. The man did not even look behind him but continued to pull the small boy as Todd was being forced to slide along. They finally reached the end of a hallway and the man took out a set of keys with his free hand. After singling out the one he wanted, the orderly slid in the key and twisted the doorknob. The door was heavy and it took strength to open it. The door screeched out and blackness filled the entrance.

"Here you go," said the orderly as he flung Todd into the room and slammed the door behind him.

Slow, even breaths sounded from Todd's mouth. He was sleeping. The stuffed bear lay at his side. The stitched face of the doll faced upwards and its mock smile seemed to show through the pitch black.

Something began to happen within the small block of a room. The air became denser. The atmosphere became damp. Everything felt saturated but nothing physically changed.

'Greetings, Master,' said Shmee.

Whisperings of sounds and soft cries of humans shuttered through the room.

'I realize it has been three weeks, Master. Because of his state of mind, I could not get here faster,' said Shmee. A pause. 'Yes, I understand that I should have gotten here faster. I know there isn't much time. The dreams are becoming more realistic and vivid. I am absorbing as quickly as possible. I know the one dream is not going away. I do not know what it means either.'

Todd struggled in his sleep. Hands, no larger than a baseball, gripped the stuffed bear tighter. He whimpered and then the struggling ceased.

'Very little time, indeed.'

* * *

A twinkling of a bell bounced around the restaurant as a deathly thin man entered. The man winced at the soft sound but continued into the fast food place. A quick glance around the restaurant and Johnny knew that he hated it. Everything was exaggeratingly fake. It almost made him sick.

Walking in a little further, Johnny watched as the waiters and waitresses buzzed along around their assigned tables. No one paid him any attention.

'Psst. Johnny, over here,' said an all too familiar voice.

Johnny turned to his left and saw a huge stack of Bub's Burger Boys. They were all neatly arranged on top of one another. One off to the side particularly looked recognizable.

"How did you get in here?" whispered Johnny. He did not want to cause a scene in the restaurant so he subtly edged closer to the stack and pretended to look interesting at it. "What do you want now that I'm here?" asked Johnny.

'I am glad that you are finally indulging in this need for answers, Johnny. It had taken you long enough,' said Reverend Meat. His eyes flashed as he spoke.

"I am not indulging anything," whispered Johnny, "I am here because I am. Nothing is driving me but my car."

'Why try to cover up which is already obvious? Is it so hard to accept the fact that you have to-'

"I don't have to do anything!" screamed Johnny. Knowing that he said that too loud, he turned to see if anyone was staring at him. No one was.

'Fine, let's not have this conversation, then. Why don't you just go and have a seat at one of the booths, hmm? I am sure you are very hungry,' said the figurine.

Johnny turned from the plastic toy and walked up to the 'Wait Here For Service' sign. It took only a minute before a waitress walked up and escorted Johnny to a window booth. The man sat down as the waitress placed a menu in front of him.

"Tell me when you are ready to order," said the waitress and she walked away.

The window at which Johnny was sitting next to was large. It started from the top of the ceiling to the floor and it filled the width of the booth. The scenery outside showed the freeway and the turn-off, which was the one Johnny used to get to the restaurant. Beyond that there was a sizable hill covered in short blades of grass. The breeze blew and would make waves in the weeds; it looked alive. Atop the hill branched a beautiful oak tree. The reason why Johnny was so compelled by it was the fact that it was dead. A leaf hadn't grown from that tree for at least ten years.

Johnny watched the tree's branches sway back and forth with the wind. It moved so easily with the current of air. So languid. Like fire.

'Like fire?' thought Johnny.

Yes, like fire. Dangerous flames that ignite from a stick and it burns. Burns like a house would if one was so inclined and one was and the tree burned so brightly it hurt the eyes and it stung oh how it stung tears ran down and it hurt it hurt for so long it would not stop a knife cut into wood so long ago it so long ago from now cutting through bark and life and it was rough but still good you could still see the letters it wasn't so hard after all and it burned and pain and EW EW EW why did this happen why why can't this stop there is something wrong she knows it know it's true and I couldn't stop what happened where is she where am I who are you what's going on oh god the pain it won't stop where am I oh god stop oh god oh god oh god Elizabeth Elizabeth Elizabeth Eliza-

"Sir?"

Johnny jumped at the noise and frightened the waitress. He looked up, wide-eyed at the girl.

"Sir…are you ready to order?" asked the waitress.


	4. Chapter 4

The black went on forever. Unfeeling darkness crept along the curves and rises of little Todd Casil's face. It was cold. Numb fingers clung to one another unknowingly.

Coarse, fake fur outlined a small bear. The large black buttons shine with unseen life. It looked towards the boy.

'Something is coming?' asked Shmee. 'Well, how soon?'

A pause.

'What do you think I could possibly accomplish in that amount of time?! It is far too hopeless.'

Hissing and moaning swam through the small chamber.

'Him? What does He want with the child?'

Silence.

'Well, it won't take very long to find out, now will it?'

* * *

Pushing the glass door open, Johnny ran as fast as he could to the small car. Gravel crunched beneath his boots. The windshield of the automobile was cracked and dusty. Johnny took his keys out of his pocket and inserted one into the ignition. The car sparked to life and left the parking lot.

Quickly, Johnny found a road that led across the freeway and drove up to the tree as close as he dared. Turning the ignition off, Johnny sat back in the driver's seat. He exhaled a long breath. A moment passes.

A hand reaches for the door handle and then he is out in front of the tree. It is magnificent. Branches reach towards the sky like dead fingers. Bark clings to the trunk here and there. Johnny lifts his arm and presses his hand against the cold wood. It feels smooth. His palm grazes along the trunk. Fingers touch a gap in the trunk. Two gaps. Johnny looks to see what is there.

EW & JC

Johnny stumbles back, startled. The letters were etched into the side of the tree. A still very unskilled hand cut through the wood to write those markings.

A terrible, searing laughter slashed through Johnny's brain. Reverend Meat stood to his left.

'See? Do you see yet? Do you know what you did Johnny?!' More hysterical laughter gushed forth from the eyes of the doll. 'It is all right there. Everything you ever wanted to know, Johnny.'

"And what is that?" whispered Johnny from clenched teeth. A throbbing pain had begun to travel through the backs of his eyes. Swirling images of things he could almost remember flashed inside his brain.

'Your past.'

Johnny leaned against the tree. It was his only support to hold him up. Nausea swept through Johnny's stomach and he threw up what little was left in it. Crouched on the ground, Johnny wept. The pain was unbearable now. It throbbed. Every second a new pain pushed passed his tolerance. It felt as though a snake had managed to get inside of Johnny's head and had begun to slither through the folds of his brain. Something terrible was happening. Something terrifying.

And then, it stopped.


End file.
